The invention relates to an apparatus for transporting containers to at least one processing station.
In a known apparatus of this kind (EP 0 679 136 A1), two parallel guide rails are provided for the advance and return of the container carriers, which are arranged in a horizontal plane. The turnaround devices are provided with rail sections, which adjoin the guide rails and can pivot around an axis extending perpendicular to the advance direction of the container carriers. An embodiment of this kind is already disadvantageous merely due to the fact that it is not possible to transport the containers in a continuous fashion and as a result, they can only be transported in an intermittent fashion. Such an apparatus also has disadvantages with regard to a desired removability with a possibility for cleaning and sterilization of individual components.
There are also known apparatuses for transporting containers in which revolving, endless chains or belts are used, which have individual container carriers fastened to them. Such revolving chains or belts are not only complex but also disadvantageous to the extent that they permit hardly any removability of individual components and present difficulties with regard to cleaning.